If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ. You'll find answers to the frequently asked questions as well as basic rules. No need to register unless you would like to participate, although some images will only show if you are registered/logged-in.

You will need to register
before you can post: click the red register link or the register tab, above, right.

The WoodenBoat Forum is sponsored by WoodenBoat Publications, publisher of WoodenBoat magazine since 1974. To get WoodenBoat delivered to your door or computer, mobile device of choice, etc, click WB Subscriptions.

Selling/self promotion postings are verboten on the Forum. To advertise, take a look at WoodenBoat Advertising, or use your Google Adwords account if you want to advertise on the Forum.

Re: White Salmon build

There was a bump appearing on one of the forms which I had been looking at for a couple of days.
I removed some of the staples at this form and the strips lifted off to give a far better shape.
I was thinking about what I was going to use to pack out the form at this area. It needed to be thin and flexible.
Right under my feet I noticed some leaves from the cabbage trees that drop all over the place in our yard.
Perfect! I cut them into lengths and stapled them in place, starting with 5 layers at the bottom and tapering out to 3 at the top.
[IMG]20170407_165429 by Craig Slack, on Flickr[/IMG]

It just shows that everything has a solution, you just have to wait for it to appear.

Re: White Salmon build

The first job today was to pull all the staples.
There were a few that snapped off, which will play havoc with the plane, but I will deal with them as I find them.
[IMG]20170411_111357 by Craig Slack, on Flickr[/IMG]

I then sanded the glue off, which also exposed the staples that I missed.
Then I went at it with the plane, wishing at times that I had tried a little harder to get the strips more level with each other.
[IMG]20170411_123858 by Craig Slack, on Flickr[/IMG]

This was a very satisfying part of the job, exposing the timber contrasts and grain.

I didn't realise at the time of using it that this strip was going to be a problem. The grain runout from it caused it to split when the plane hit it and large chunks flew off.
The multitool will have to be retrieved from the boatshed and a new piece scarfed into place in this spot.
[IMG]20170411_141151 by Craig Slack, on Flickr[/IMG]

I was pretty pleased with the outcome of today's efforts, and am looking forward to getting into the other side once I have patched up the booboo.
Those gaps with the glue showing will need to be scraped out a bit so the epoxy can get in there and they will disappear to some degree.
[IMG]20170411_141015 by Craig Slack, on Flickr[/IMG]

I was reading Nick Schades book on this type of construction and of this stage of the build he says "The goal is not to put a fine finish on the boat but to begin to remove the ugliness".

Re: White Salmon build

I had 1/2 an hour before dinner, so got the booboo cut out with the multitool.
[IMG]20170412_161943 by Craig Slack, on Flickr[/IMG]

After this photo I cleaned it up with a chisel. I managed to get the chisel into the glueline and the brittle glue chipped away leaving the cove and bead edges.
I found a strip that colour matched, avoiding the runout on this piece so it didn't do the same again. It looked like it is from the same piece.
Afte a bit of adjustment with the plane it wedged in there pretty well with some glue and staples.
[IMG]20170412_165129 by Craig Slack, on Flickr[/IMG]

Re: White Salmon build

I see that the photo's have disappeared for me. Hopefully this will sort itself out coz I've not changed or moved anything in photobucket.
Update;
The photo's have reappeared thankfully. I wasn't looking forward to putting them back in again.

Re: White Salmon build

I then planed the Starboard side of hull. No repairs needed here thank goodness.
[IMG]20170413_132826 by Craig Slack, on Flickr[/IMG]

The last job for the day was trimming back the strips at the transoms.
I still need to put a radius on the strips, but still thinking about the best way to do it.
I'm thinking about sanding, so I don't get any tearout.
Really looking like a boat now. Ready to go!

Re: White Salmon build

Today I mixed up some epoxy, sawdust from the vacuum cleaner and some West glue powder.
I didn't need much sawdust to get something like the correct colour into the filler.
I then filled all the gaps between the strips.
[IMG]20170414_180540 by Craig Slack, on Flickr[/IMG]

The next 2 days I am racing in the traileryacht nationals that are being held in Wellington.
Today was cancelled with the tailend of a cyclone passing through.
So Monday I will get the filler sanded back and get a seal coat over the hull prior to glassing it.
As far as I can tell from the manual I need to put layers of 6 oz cloth down each side that overlap at the middle, and then another layer over the bottom.

Re: White Salmon build

Not too much progress since the last post.
I've sanded the filler back, then washed the hull down to find the unseen glue residue that shows white when wet.
I pencil marked these for later sanding once dried again.
I've since got one side remedied and hand sanded with 40 grit inline with the grain.

Re: White Salmon build

Nice design, and a good job, Slacko!
Ian

“Old Joke: ‘A bench fitter works to the nearest thousandth of an inch. A loco fitter (steam) works to the nearest inch. A shipwright works to the nearest ship’.”
Alan Byde, Canoe Design and Construction, Pelham Books, 1978

Re: White Salmon build

I managed to spend an hour finishing cleaning up the glue marks with 40 grit, sanding with the grain.
I didn't longboard, so also did some sanding at 30 degrees to the grain to knock off some bumps as I went.
They were mostly where I had filled gaps with glue. These areas being harder than the timber around them needed some extra attention.

Re: White Salmon build

Today I got my roll of 200 gsm boatcloth out and laid out 2 pieces for each side of the hull. They will overlap at the centre of the boat. I was 300 mm short on the second piece so a trip to the chandlery was in order.

I have been flopping back and forward whether to seal the hull with epoxy and let it dry before putting the cloth on with the extra day and some sanding before doing the fibreglassing, putting the cloth on dry and wetting out, or coating the hull in epoxy and laying the cloth on wet. The last option is what I normally do.
I was worried about the hull gasing out when the cloth is on causing bubbles under the fibreglass.
The lack of enough cloth decided it for me and I painted on a layer of resin which I will glass tomorrow.
I'm glad I did because as the resin soaked into the small gaps in the strips the air bubbled out! I was able to brush the bubbles off after 30 minutes or so.
[IMG]20170510_135704 by Craig Slack, on Flickr[/IMG]

This is how she looks now waiting for the glass tomorrow.
The glass that I'm using has some colour in it due to the hardener, so it makes the cedar a bit darker than it would be otherwise, but I'm hoping it will not harm the overall look.

Re: White Salmon build

The epoxy had hardened off this morning enough to hand sand it with 80 grit.
I then laid the cloth over one side and wet it out with epoxy.
I still had some time, so got the other sides cloth on with a bit of slipping and sliding as there is about 500mm overlap of the 2 layers.
This side was then also wet out.
I used a plastic scraper to spread the epoxy out, and a chip brush to add more resin where the 2 layer overlapped and there were some dry patches.
[IMG]20170512_140759 by Craig Slack, on Flickr[/IMG]

I need to get some foam rollers to add the extra coats to fill the weave and give a sanding buffer.
Not that I have to rush with this, as the weather is cold enough that one coat a day would be possible.

Re: White Salmon build

I'm up to 4 coats of epoxy, last one tomorrow morning before work.
I have made a booboo with my choice of epoxy though. The hardener I'm using has a lot of colour in it and the timber is now pretty dark with poor grain definition.
I'm kinda OK with it, but will try to get hold of something that is more clear to do the inside.
I will probably end up antifouling the below the waterline, because it will stay in the water for up to 3 weeks over Summer getting towed around the Marlborough Sounds.
There would be significant growth over this time.
No photo's at this stage sorry.

Re: White Salmon build

Today I shaped and glued on the skeg. I found some Eucalyptus in my pile that will do the job nicely.

In progress. It is pretty tough stuff but takes edge tools pretty well. After knocking off the cuts with a chisel I trimmed down to the line with a spokeshave. It took a bit of fine tuning after to get it to fit the boat.

I then glued it on with epoxy, Glue powder and some sawdust to give it some colour.

I will need to steam the keel rubbing strip as it is 19 x 19 eucalyptus which appears able to support my weight over 2 metres!
Should be a fun day tomorrow.
1. Build a steamebr />
2. Take the shape of the boat and build a form to bend around
3. Steam the eucalyptus
4. Wrestle it into the form

Re: White Salmon build

So yesterday I got a wallpaper steamer from Cash converters (pawnshop) 1/2 price for the same unit from Wagner.
I attached a radiator hose to it, and built a box from some ply I found in the rack. Okuume, but I'm not sure that matters really.

This is the box without the lid on. I put some little cleats down the box to let the steam get at the underside of plank being steamed.
[IMG]20170518_113006 by Craig Slack, on Flickr[/IMG]

A bit fuzzy sorry.
I attached some blocks to my workbench in the shape of the underside of dinghy.
I then bent a bit of scrap cedar to test the shape. It needs to be pretty close as it is glued on without fasteners.
I adjusted the blocks a little, and the keel strip is 1/2 way though it's 1 hour steaming.
Fingers crossed!

Re: White Salmon build

Re: White Salmon build

The eucalyptus keel rubbing strip had a quite different feel when bending compared to the cedar.
I thought initially it wasn't going to make the bend until I increased the pressure on it. It then very slowly conformed to the shape without having to increase the pressure again.
Clamped up a ready for a night on the rack.
[IMG]20170519_133149 by Craig Slack, on Flickr[/IMG]

It sprang back about 10 mm as I had allowed for so it will fit pretty well once I have shaved a bit out of one section.

Winter came with a vengeance over the weekend, we had snow on the hills across the harbour from us.
I was already planning to move the dinghy to the boat shed in town which has power the included in rental cost.
This will allow me to heat it and keep using epoxy.
I got the move done on Saturday, so will get back into it on Monday.

Re: White Salmon build

I shaved a bit of a few spots to get the skeg fitting closer to the hull shape then glued it on.
The ropes needed the tin cans to increase the tension and squeeze down on the glue.
[IMG]20170529_123149 by Craig Slack, on Flickr[/IMG]

Today I sanded the cove that I put on the skeg.
While doing this I found that the resin on the hull has still not gone off enough to be sandable and it balls up and clogs the paper.
I decided today that the outside of the hull didn't come out well enough to be left clear, so I am going to paint the hull.
I have 2 pack paint so it will give it a tough finish for the concrete ramp that it will get launched off.
I will clear finish the transoms and the inside, so there will be plenty of wood still on show.
[IMG]20170530_142934 by Craig Slack, on Flickr[/IMG]

I got the two ends glassed and used the excess epoxy to put a bigger cove on the skeg. I used a teaspoon from the galley kit to shape it. Can't do that at home!

Re: White Salmon build

rememberize that normal viewing by others will reveal only the sides & transoms

UNLESS the little girl is bottom side up'rds.... :-O

so leaving the sides bright might be an option

ALSO, over here the auto body workers have what they call an AIR FILE which is basically just an air powered motorized longboard used for FLOATING surfaces faibr />
you might try sanding a spot smooth and simply varnishing it to see how it would look before you hide all that beautiful wood

for the bottoms of my trailer babies i frequently paint them w/ PORCH & FLOOR ENAMEL for a durable finish

sometimes use the same paint on the inner floobr />
just an old man's ponderments

Re: White Salmon build

Today I sanded the fillet along the skeg and taped it.
I also put a fill coat on the 2 ends.
It will be rinse and repeat for the next couple of days.
At least the epoxy is going off well in the heated shed!

Thanks Steve.
The getting it flat isn't the problem.
I'm going to have to scrape it back to hard epoxy to get rid of the stuff that hasn't gone off still. This will expose cloth probably, which I won't be able to hide after that.
I was comparing two stitch and glue dinghies that were built side by side today. One was finished bright and the other was painted with clearcoated transom.
The painted one actually looks better. That is ply though.

I'm happy to paint at this stage, and was thinking that after the initial launch the scrapes and dings that will occur will get handled better by paint.

Re: White Salmon build

Today I lifted the boat off and removed most of the moulds from the strongback.
I then screwed some timbers to the side and braced them off the two remaining moulds.
[IMG]20170605_132942 by Craig Slack, on Flickr[/IMG]

I then cut some strips off an old tarpaulin and screwed them to the tops of the timbers as strops to hang the dinghy in.
I has to adjust the lengths of them a little, and the working height came out pretty well.
I will be able to wheel it all outside for sanding to save making a big mess in the shed.
The yacht racing crew get cranky if they have to clean the shed again!
[IMG]20170605_134953 by Craig Slack, on Flickr[/IMG]

I had a quick go with a curved sureform scraper, and this glue will clean up pretty easily I think.
[IMG]20170605_135001 by Craig Slack, on Flickr[/IMG]

Re: White Salmon build

Today I scraped our the excess glue and started sanding the inside.
I got about a half one side done to a reasonable standard, but getting it fair is pretty laborious.
The flattish bits are OK with the RO sander, but the curviest bits I can only get with a sanding block that I sanded a curve onto.
[IMG]20170606_104305 by Craig Slack, on Flickr[/IMG]
[IMG]20170606_141741 by Craig Slack, on Flickr[/IMG]

I've got a smaller diameter RO sander that I will try out to reduce the manual labour part of this step, but I'm not expecting too much.

Re: White Salmon build

The smaller sander gouged the wood as it had a it didn't have a soft sanding pad, so was quickly abandoned.
I was back to hand sanding! Not my favourite pastime.
I went to the hardware store for some 40 grit paper and found a rubber sanding block that had a curved back that was a pretty good match to the radius I had in front of me.
The combination of this and the 40 grit meant I was making progress, and got one side almost finished.
This included meeting my 6 year old for lunch on her school visit to an art gallery and Te Papa.
[IMG]20170607_110145 by Craig Slack, on Flickr[/IMG]

A long shot of the worksite when it isn't raining.

Thanks for the support John. I'm learning as I go, but hopefully she will turn out ok and there is some inspiration for readers to make some sawdust.

Re: White Salmon build

I got the initial sanding of the inside finished on Friday afternoon.
I immediately got some epoxy, sawdust and glue powder mixed up and filleted the transoms.
I also scraped out the worst of the bubbled gorilla glue out of the strip joins, mixed some epoxy, sawdust and West 410 microballoons and filled most of the cracks between the strips.
Note to self and anyone interested - don't use gorilla glue for this type of construction!
The 410 is a lot softer than glue powder, so will sand smooth rather than standing proud as the cedar is sanded away from either side of it.
Another lesson learned the hard way.
I didn't get any photo's of current progress, but will get back into it on Monday.

Re: White Salmon build

Slacko - I have been a "Dimensional Sign Maker" for the past 40 some odd years
and when Gorilla Glue first hit the market, we were cautiously optimistic that this
product would work great in our projects . . . . some of us experienced nightmares
with the unexpected expansion rate when applied in thickness on a large project !!
there is definitely a learning curve to using this stuff !! but - it will work as intended
when used within its limits (and yours). Glad it worked out for you.

Re: White Salmon build

I got 1/2 the filler sanded back today. Once the other side is sanded, I will go over it with a couple of grades of hand sandpaper to remove the swirls from the power sander.
I am using the Fein multitool for sanding.
There isn't as much material to remove and I have an old sanding pad for it that is pretty warped from lots of use, so it conforms to the hull shape pretty well.

Re: White Salmon build

I got the other side sanded and then went over it with 40, 100 and then 180 grit sandpaper by hand.
It probably needs more sanding on close inspection, but I've had enough sanding for now.
[IMG]20170613_134516 by Craig Slack, on Flickr[/IMG]

Re: White Salmon build

Originally Posted by Slacko

I will probably end up antifouling the below the waterline, because it will stay in the water for up to 3 weeks over Summer getting towed around the Marlborough Sounds.
There would be significant growth over this time.

looking very sweet!
i don't know those waters and i always bow to local knowlege (which isn't always wise) but 3 weeks shouldn't call for antifoul i would have thought. Its not pleasant stuff. Surely let the boat dry out on a beach some night half way through and she'd be right? But even without, i'd think problematic growth in 3 weeks is unlikely....... maybe.

Re: White Salmon build

Today I ran the router over the transoms, so that I can get the fibreglass cloth to sit down over them.
Then I rolled a coat of epoxy over the inside.
[IMG]20170614_140406 by Craig Slack, on Flickr[/IMG]

Hi Gypsie, I've had barnacles after leaving a dinghy for 3-4 weeks sitting on the mooring while the yacht is on the hard.
The water movement of dragging it around while on holiday might give different growth rates though.

Today I was in a car painting suppliers shop certifying their spray booth. I had a good look around at their products and asked about how they handle sanding internal curves. He had some cool air powered small RO sanders that had a 30 mm foam pad on them that would conform to anything probably.
They need 9 CFM to run other than in short bursts!
He did give me an interface pad for my Festool that will help, so I will give that a go on the fibreglass. It may not get right into the chine, but will help get it nice and flat in other areas.